Improved materials and paving processes continue to increase the strength and durability of paved surfaces. This in turn has increased the operational/drivable life of these roads for personal and commercial drivers. However, a number of factors continue to negatively impact paved surfaces. These factors include irregularities in materials, irregularities in processes during paving, irregularities in the existing road being paved, ambient weather and the like. These factors typically result in surface defects in the road such as cracks, unevenness, potholes and/or surface crumbling. These surface defects can reduce the strength and/or operational/drivable life of the paved surface. With reduced strength and operational/drivable life, the roads can require constant upkeep and maintenance, and eventually require total replacement and/or resurfacing. This maintenance and/or road replacement can be costly and often requires the road to be at least partially shut down during repair and replacement.
One maintenance process commonly used to prolong the operational/drivable life of a road with surface defects is to fill the surface defects with filling material (e.g., flexible material, asphalt patches and so on). However, simply filling the surface defects often is a temporary fix and does not prevent surface defects from forming in other areas of the road. Filling defects may not necessarily prevent the filled surface defects from spreading and/or growing as well. Another common maintenance solution is to provide an additional layer or topcoat over the existing road including surface defects. While the additional layer or topcoat may be initially free from surface defects, the existing surface defects in the cover road surface may grow and/or may penetrate through the topcoat, causing new surface defects to form within the topcoat. This is often referred to, or known as “reflective cracking.”
Another conventional maintenance solution that helps to increase the operational/drivable life of the road and prevent reflective cracking is the use of paving fabric interlayers. Paving fabrics are often formed from a length of flexible sheet material that is rolled onto a spool. The paving fabrics are unrolled directly onto a tack layer that is deposited directly on the road including the surface defects. The paving fabrics are adhered to the existing road via the tack layer, and then subsequently covered by depositing hot mix asphalt directly on and/or over the paving fabrics. The flexible characteristics of the paving fabric interlayer can prevent surface defects from forming in the hot mix asphalt layer and substantially mitigate reflective cracking within the hot mix asphalt layer.
While the paving fabrics can mitigate and/or reduce the risk of reflective cracking in the hot mix asphalt layer, the process for laying and/or utilizing the paving fabrics presents additional issues that may negatively affect the strength, quality and operational/drivable life of the road. For example, the paving fabric must be laid flat over the tack layer almost immediately after that tack layer is deposited. If too much time passes between depositing the tack layer and rolling the paving fabrics over the tack layer, and/or if the paving fabric is rippled, bumpy and/or is not laid substantially flat over the tack layer, bonding issues between the tack layer and the paving fabrics may arise. These bonding issues can cause weakened areas in the road, which may lead to premature failure and/or increased risk of surface defects. Additionally, where a gap is formed between the paving fabrics and tack layer due to a ripple or bump in the paving fabric, the paving fabric interlayer may be capable of moving or sliding, even after the hot mix asphalt is deposited over the paving fabric. The ability of the paving fabric to move or slide may cause and/or impart a high, undesirable stress on the hot mix asphalt after it has cooled, hardened and/or cured over the paving fabric. This may ultimately result in surface defects forming in the area of the hot mix asphalt layer that experience this undesirable stress.